Conservatism in Germany
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Conservatism in Germany encompasses a large number of strains of the past three hundred years.
While many of the conservative theorists are labelled "political romantics" (most notably by Carl Schmitt, himself conservative), at least four strains can be distinguished before 1945:
- Status-quo-ante-Conservatism and Romantic conservatism, wanting to go back before the French Revolution and to restore the medieval order. Notable theorists are Novalis, Friedrich Schelling, Karl Ludwig von Haller and Adam Müller.
- Conservative Journalism to defend the status quo of Metternichs System (the Restauration) and nationalistic Conservatism. Notable theorists include Friedrich von Gentz, Friedrich Schlegel and Ernst Moritz Arndt.
- Conservative writing in defense of the (constitutional) Monarchy in Germany. Included are the late Hegel, Stein and Friedrich Julius Stahl.
- The Conservative Revolution and pre-Nazi radicals, such as Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Oswald Spengler (adding pessimism and cultural conservatism) and Carl Schmitt.
Also included are the anti-Enlightenment romanticism of Friedrich Nietzsche, the conservative realpolitik and statecraft of Otto von Bismarck and the anti-republican monarchism of the DNVP during the Weimar Republic.
During the period of Nazi rule, conservatism was outlawed, as the "national revolution" of the national socialists had priority and the racist and social changes in German society were not allowed to be stopped by the conservative forces of "reaction" (Reaktion, see Horst-Wessel-Lied), like for instance the democratic Zentrum and the Prussian monarchists. Notable conservatives were - after a period of pacification in the Nazi Reich - involved in the German Resistance, most notably in the 20 July Plot.
In modern Germany, the post-World War II Christian Democratic conservatism claims to represent all forms of Conservatism, while there remain some marginal parties on the right of the Christian Democratic Union (dubbed National Conservatists to distinguish them from the far-right-parties), e.g. Die Republikaner. There also exist marginal movements to restore the German Monarchy, most notably Tradition und Leben. A notable modern conservative theorist is Arnold Gehlen.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- von Beyme, Klaus (2002). Politische Theorien im Zeitalter der Ideologien. Westdeutscher Verlag.
- Epstein, Klaus (1975). Genesis of German Conservatism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691051216.
- Jones, Larry Eugene. in James Retallack: Between Reform, Reaction, and Resistance: Studies in the History of German Conservatism from 1789 to 1945. Berg Publishers. ISBN 0854967877.
- Muller, Jerry Z. (1988). The Other God that Failed: Hans Freyer and the Deradicalization of German Conservatism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 069100823X.
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of August 21, 2007.
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